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Spare and Xsquare have partnered to embed Pay by Bank capabilities into business payment workflows through the CBUAE’s Open Finance Framework, the companies announced July 13, 2026. The partnership lets Xsquare’s business customers process payables, receivables and cross-border payments over regulated account-to-account rails instead of card networks.
Key Highlights of the Partnership
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Partners | Spare (Open Finance infrastructure) and Xsquare (B2B payments platform) |
| What’s new | Pay by Bank capabilities embedded into Xsquare’s payment workflows |
| Regulatory framework | CBUAE’s Open Finance Framework |
| Use cases | Payables, receivables, cross-border payments |
| Markets | UAE now; Spare also operates in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, Xsquare also operates in Qatar |
| Announced | July 13, 2026 |
What Pay by Bank changes
The companies said businesses currently face transaction costs of 2 to 3% on every card payment, along with settlement delays that disrupt cash flow and operational planning. Through Spare’s infrastructure, Xsquare gets a single API integration point to initiate transactions across multiple use cases, rather than managing separate banking relationships for each one. Payments route over account-to-account rails instead of card networks, which the companies say brings transaction costs down and moves settlement closer to real time.
Xsquare‘s existing supplier payment model runs on Mastercard’s B2B card rails, letting businesses pay invoices by corporate card while suppliers receive funds directly to their bank accounts, with a float period built into that model. The companies have not said whether Pay by Bank replaces that card-based flow or runs alongside it as a second option.
In their words
Dalal AlRayes, Co-founder and CEO of Spare, said: “B2B payments across the region remain heavily fragmented, expensive, and operationally complex. Partnering with Xsquare allows us to bring Open Finance capabilities into real-world business payment workflows, helping companies reduce friction and operate more efficiently across markets.”
Ashwin Shenoy, CPO and Co-Founder of Xsquare, said: “Open Finance is set to fundamentally reshape how businesses transact, and we believe the UAE is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. Through our partnership with Spare, XSquare is bringing together regulated account-to-account payment rails and a powerful B2B payment orchestration layer. This collaboration strengthens our vision of creating a unified financial operating system for businesses.”
Why the Spare Xsquare Open Finance Partnership Matters
For the UAE’s Open Finance rollout
Open Finance in the Gulf has mostly been framed as a consumer product story so far, account aggregation, personal finance agents, retail payment apps. This partnership pushes it into B2B infrastructure instead: payables, receivables and cross-border payments between businesses. It also follows Spare’s recent launch of an International Open Finance Payments solution in the UAE, part of a broader push to extend Open Finance rails beyond consumer use cases.
For UAE businesses paying suppliers
For a business using Xsquare, the practical pitch is lower card fees, faster settlement, and one integration instead of juggling multiple banking relationships for payables, receivables and cross-border payments separately. Whether it changes how businesses actually pay suppliers depends on how Pay by Bank sits alongside Xsquare’s existing card-based float model, since the two rails work differently and the companies haven’t specified how customers are meant to choose between them.
What’s next
The companies have not disclosed a rollout timeline, adoption figures, pricing for Pay by Bank compared to the existing card rail, or whether the partnership extends to Xsquare’s Qatar operations, which run under the Qatar Central Bank rather than the CBUAE.
Editor’s take: Xsquare’s existing pitch to businesses includes a 35-day float on card-based supplier payments, which is real value to a finance team managing cash flow. Pay by Bank runs on a completely different mechanic: faster, cheaper settlement with no float at all. The press release doesn’t say whether this is a replacement rail or an added option, and that’s the actual product question here, not the Open Finance technology itself. Worth checking back on which side businesses actually choose once they can put the cost savings against the float side by side.
FAQs
What did Spare and Xsquare just announce?
A partnership to embed Pay by Bank capabilities into business payment workflows through the CBUAE’s Open Finance Framework.
What is Pay by Bank?
Account-to-account payments processed over regulated Open Finance rails instead of card networks.
What does Xsquare do?
A GCC-focused B2B payments platform running e-invoicing, payment collection, supplier payments and reconciliation on one ledger, currently built on Mastercard’s B2B card rails.
What does Spare do?
An Open Finance infrastructure company operating across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Kuwait, providing a single API for financial data and payment access.
What problem is this solving?
Card transaction costs of 2 to 3% and settlement delays that disrupt business cash flow, according to the companies.